In another thread Sports is saying that if you ignore his first season and the past two, he feels that Benzema was one of the best 9s in the world!!!

There is a tendency particularly in this form to call current players all time greats.

I'm just wondering where people here rank Benzema in terms of all time Real Madrid strikers.

(and keep in mind that according to Zidane and Chad, we all know nothing about futbol!!!)

I will list the 9s (that I can remember) in Real Madrid's history. I have tried to exclude those who were on the squad but hardly played plus I have included Cristiano Ronaldo since he is always mentioned amongst strikers when comparing to all time greats.

Please rank the top 10 from you perspective and especially where does Benzema rank in this list.

@futbol_bill wrote:In another thread Sports is saying that if you ignore his first season and the past two, he feels that Benzema was one of the best 9s in the world!!!

There is a tendency particularly in this form to call current players all time greats.

I'm just wondering where people here rank Benzema in terms of all time Real Madrid strikers.

(and keep in mind that according to Zidane and Chad, we all know nothing about futbol!!!)

I will list the 9s (that I can remember) in Real Madrid's history. I have tried to exclude those who were on the squad but hardly played plus I have included Cristiano Ronaldo since he is always mentioned amongst strikers when comparing to all time greats.

Please rank the top 10 from you perspective and especially where does Benzema rank in this list.

Top 15 I can agree with. He has the benefit of having stayed at the club for a relatively long time. Then again, his longevity is not an indication of consistent performance output, in my opinion, at least. His peak came late, had a really short duration, and then his performance level plummeted. I think it would be fair to rate him much higher in terms of talent, but it's the actual performances that matter, and there have been far too many matches where I wish we had a less talented, but more effective player in his position. I used to wish for his success more than most supporters on here, but my patience with him ran dry before his peak hit me in the face like an odorless fart that would stay suspended in the air and start smelling shortly after. In my opinion, he's at a point in his career where his underwhelming performances don't warrant the benefit of the doubt.

i have been meaning to give my 5 cents about benzema for the past day or so.

first off, some of the names in that list are ridiculous: Owen, Cassano, Mayoral, Adebayor... is this a joke?

Benzema's trophy case with Madrid is way heavier than most of the strikers in that list. Winning 3 CLs obviously put him in a special category. But what is different with most of our CFs, they were often within the top 3 players of the team, leading us with goals, charisma, and performances in big games.

I dont think Benzema has proven to be a team leader in his time in Madrid. he has often had strong seasons, without ever looking like the absolute best. Contrary to the CFs you listed there as well, Benzema is playing in a role where he decided to subjugate himself to Cristiano entirely, so much so that he does not even score anymore. This is something everyone is having a difficult time with, but he, his coach, and his teammates have embraced the fact that CR is the scorer and everyone around him is there to help CR score. Actually, i think while people understand it, they refuse to accept it because it's such a foreign interpretation of the traditional n9 that no one wants to put up with it.

Benzema's success in madrid is so tied to that of Ronaldo that i dont think he deserves to be listed on any all time great or best anything Madrid. He justt did not play up to that level for long enough

Benzema vs Morientes is a tough comparison, to be honest. On one hand, Benzema is a substantially more talented player who, on his day, can provide and create as well as score goals. On the other hand, I feel that Morientes was a more productive player, who knew how to use his more limited skill set effectively. Top players weren't scoring goals at the same rate back then, and Morientes, like RVN, was so good at scoring goals out of nowhere. I would pick 2014-15 Benzema over 1999-00 Morientes, but I always felt that Morientes was a more reliably consistent performer before R9 arrived.

to be fair, I listed strikers that I could remember, not of any order or ranking. I ignored names like Portillo, Mariano and Saviola as they didn't get a lot of playing time. The guys you are complaining about were mostly backups except Anelka (oops I left him off the list), but they did play.

Looking back at the list, I have pretty well listed all of the starters for years in the first 10 plus Higuain, Suker, Anelka and Benzema. The rest were backups. Does anyone remember any other strikers that were starters?

From my perspective, the first 10 listed plus Suker are all better than Benzema.

and @Nick, exactly what is Benzema's contributions to the three Cls vs the first 10 listed plus Suker. I rank Benzema 12th in all time club list, where do you rank him?

Benzema has been starter for so long, so its hard not to put him high on the list compared with many of those, a lot of those on the list didnt 'last' as long as hes done, even though some of them performed better in the shorter span of time at Real.

About Suker and Mijatovic, this was about when I started watching football as a Liverpool fan So long ago, but Suker was very prolific, he was the top few strikers in the world during that 2-3 years at Real. Mijatovic wasnt as prolific but he was also good, more importantly though he scored the only goal in the CL final to beat Juve who were the favourite and rated better team back in 1998 I think it was, which was also the first CL win for Real in modern football (the 5-6 in a row back in the freakin 40s was it? Doesnt really count ). Mijatovic even become a director for Real too, but I remember also him being quite a dirty player, anyway, go figure

Morientes was also very prolific, but having always had to compete with Raul, Ronaldo, etc., for a place, he wasnt consider one of the Galatico, was pretty much never got fair treatment, which was hard and were sold to Liverpool, but he was always good for Real when give his chance.

There were some 9s who didn't even stay half as long as he has with Madrid and yet had more contributions and a significantly bigger impact.

There was never a moment where I felt, as a Madrid fan, that Benzema was indispensable and/or irreplaceable. Not even once in almost a decade-long stay.

And I don't know about you, but as far as I'm concerned, if you're not indispensable and or irreplaceable, you don't deserve to be considered among the greats.

Benzema had a relatively long stretch of form during the 14-15 season. I genuinely thought he was the most in-form striker in the world during that period of time, which lasted about half a season if I remember correctly. It was the absolute peak of his career, and he scored some important goals for us. 13-14 was also a relatively solid season for him, albeit inconsistent. I remember sports blaming all of the off-field drama for his dips in form, but in hindsight, his years under Ancelotti were the highlight of a rather long stint at this club.

@BarcaLearning wrote:Benzema has been starter for so long, so its hard not to put him high on the list compared with many of those, a lot of those on the list didnt 'last' as long as hes done, even though some of them performed better in the shorter span of time at Real.

About Suker and Mijatovic, this was about when I started watching football as a Liverpool fan So long ago, but Suker was very prolific, he was the top few strikers in the world during that 2-3 years at Real. Mijatovic wasnt as prolific but he was also good, more importantly though he scored the only goal in the CL final to beat Juve who were the favourite and rated better team back in 1998 I think it was, which was also the first CL win for Real in modern football (the 5-6 in a row back in the freakin 40s was it? Doesnt really count ). Mijatovic even become a director for Real too, but I remember also him being quite a dirty player, anyway, go figure

Morientes was also very prolific, but having always had to compete with Raul, Ronaldo, etc., for a place, he wasnt consider one of the Galatico, was pretty much never got fair treatment, which was hard and were sold to Liverpool, but he was always good for Real when give his chance.

Morientes' best seasons came prior to the arrival of Ronaldo. Ronaldo's arrival basically marked the start of his decline and time on the bench. His link up play and mutual understanding with Raul was very good, and his high work rate was always an asset to the team, even when he wasn't scoring. Benzema is a more complex player, but he doesn't have the work rate or aggressive approach to ball retention, to compensate for when things don't go his way.

Nick definitely hit the nail on the proverbial head with that post for me. In absolute agreement and hate agreeing with his posts.

On the topic of Morientes, both him and Benz share something similar in that fans were either adamantly for or against, rarely there was an in-between.

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Saying Benzema is 9th on list just shows your bias. The only players on the list that have other club performances that should not be considered are Van Gol, Suker and possibily Morientes. If you truly feel that Benz’s contributions at Madrid are better than these 3, then that would put him at best 10, although I would rank both Van Gol and Suker ahead based on their Madrid contributions. And it’s debatable re Morientes.

In order to have Benz rated 9th, you have to view his contributions better than Raul and Mijotovic. Good luck with that.

Let me put it another way, you say for several years Benz was one of the world’s best strikers yet he ranks at the bottom or near the bottom of starter strikers in the history of Real Madrid! I see only his flopping countryman, Anelka as worst!

On the topic of Morientes, both him and Benz share something similar in that fans were either adamantly for or against, rarely there was an in-between.

Like with Benzema, many fans thought that Morientes had overstayed his welcome, and he looked a bit out of place as a fringe player on a team hailed as the Galacticos. I remember when Morientes started to lose his sharpness in front of goal, but I always appreciated his work ethic and love for the club. Unlike Benzema, he didn't have unrequited faith from his coaches, but he worked his ass off to help his team despite being deemed surplus to requirements, and I can only assume that he decided to leave only after realizing that the effort he put into his performances were never going to be rewarded with more playing time. I'm sure many of you remember when Del Bosque subbed him in with 3 minutes left on the clock, or whatever it was. That scene was so unfair, it brought a tear to my eye. In that sense, Benzema is experiencing a far more privileged scenario. I really wish we had a player in the mould of Morientes or Mcmanaman on our bench right now, because even if they don't have a fraction of Benzema's potential, they compensate for it with sweat and blood, and that alone can make a difference. Then again, even if Messi was our other option, I'm sure Benzema's immense talent would prevail.

Mijotovic... the one who scored 30 goals total in 3 seasons at Real Madrid. Ok lol. He did score in the CL final, which is his claim to fame. CR isn't a CF... but I left him in there since you wanted to. Neither was Butragueno really as Hugo Sanchez was the central striker at the time. Frankly, neither was Raul for a long portion of his career. But in any case:

Scoring goals in past was difficult. No way you can compare current 130+ goal scoring madrid sides to the past. Morata on scraps scores 19 goals in all competition in todays Madrid. Higuain easily reached 20-25 marks too.

Do any one doubt that Higuain would not score as much as Benzema did and more if he was allowed to stay here? I have no doubt. Which brings the question of what exactly makes Benzema special.

For all the creativity talks he is underwhelming in assist department. That is hell of a backdrop for a player who is supposed to be a link up master. Nor is he capable of giving defense splitting through balls. He isnt capable of giving superb crosses, isnt a great scorer, not a great header, not really known for pressing like Cavani or Suarez, Not a dribbler.....kindly enlighten me what exactly is he elite at? im curious. One of the most over hyped player who never stood out in any department and never been top 3 in CF position in his entire career. On importance he was never been top 5 in his entire 9 years in Madrid.

Benzema is a player when you look objectively; skill wise, performance wise , importance to the team and ability to do unexpected falls way below on any measurement scale. His only saving grace is he was on a team that was scoring 130+ goals easily and was on a winning team which was carried by CR.

@Adit wrote:Scoring goals in past was difficult. No way you can compare current 130+ goal scoring madrid sides to the past. Morata on scraps scores 19 goals in all competition in todays Madrid. Higuain easily reached 20-25 marks too.

Do any one doubt that Higuain would not score as much as Benzema did and more if he was allowed to stay here? I have no doubt. Which brings the question of what exactly makes Benzema special.

For all the creativity talks he is underwhelming in assist department. That is hell of a backdrop for a player who is supposed to be a link up master. Nor is he capable of giving defense splitting through balls. He isnt capable of giving superb crosses, isnt a great scorer, not a great header, not really known for pressing like Cavani or Suarez, Not a dribbler.....kindly enlighten me what exactly is he elite at? im curious. One of the most over hyped player who never stood out in any department and never been top 3 in CF position in his entire career. On importance he was never been top 5 in his entire 9 years in Madrid.

Benzema is a player when you look objectively; skill wise, performance wise , importance to the team and ability to do unexpected falls way below on any measurement scale. His only saving grace is he was on a team that was scoring 130+ goals easily and was on a winning team which was carried by CR.

While I disagree with Sports opinion on Mijotovic, as well as contributions of Van Gol and Suker, it still places him last or near the bottom of the starting strikers at Madrid for the past 70 (yes that is SEVEN ZERO) years.

So how can one assess him as best in world when he is sinking at the bottom of list at club, and ignores the fact that he has played on what is the second most successful squad in club history. He had next to zero contribution to the trophies won, not even a top 5 player on squad!

Benzema has definitely been lucky to be at Real at the same time as Cristiano. If the Portuguese had not been scoring all those goals over the years, Real would have needed a more efficient CF by now. Although to be fair to Benzema, he's embraced the second-fiddle role well, not all (top) strikers would be totally fine with it like Benz has been.